NC Space Grant: Bringing NASA to North Carolina

The NC Space Grant is a consortium of academic institutions that have gathered together to promote, develop, and support aeronautics and space-related science, engineering, and technology education and training in North Carolina. Partnering with NASA, industry, non-profit organizations, and state government agencies, NC Space Grant conducts programs that are designed to equip the current and future aero/space workforce in North Carolina.

NC Space Grant has been selected as a recipient of a 2014 Space Grant Competitive Opportunity for Partnerships with Community Colleges and Technical Schools. Your proposal titled “Strengthening the NC Space Grant Partnership with the NC Community College System to Enhance STEM-based Learning” has been selected for funding in the amount of $499,366.00.

Over the course of two years, NC Space Grant will implement two primary activities:

ACTIVITY 1: Competitive Student Scholarships. NC Space Grant will support community college students through competitive scholarships in order to attract and retain students tracked to graduate and/or matriculate into 4 year universities during the grant period of performance. -

ACTIVITY 2: Team Design Challenge and Competition. NC Space Grant will develop a team design challenge and competition to engage faculty and students from community colleges across the state. NC Space Grant will conduct educator professional development workshops to expose faculty to ballooning, competition, and NASA STEM content. Faculty will then adapt and transfer skills and techniques from the workshop to their local community college.